The Madness - Descent into Darkness Week One

This is my second year taking part in the film watching competition known as "Halloween Horror Movie Marathon Madness" or simply "The Madness". Throughout the month of October a group of Facebook users sing up and are assigned to groups with one simple goal; watch as many madness eligible films as possible and end the month victorious with the most points. If you are interested be sure to check out the group by visiting https://www.facebook.com/groups/HALLOWEENMADNESS/ Below are the movies I watched during week one of this years madness. Week one ended a bit lower than I had hoped, I ended up losing out on an entire Saturday of viewing and the weekends are when I rack up most of my points.

Dracula (1931, 76mins)
Total Points: 4 ( Antagonist attacks under darkness + phantom fog)
I had never actually seen Tod Browning's Dracula all of the way through prior to this viewing. It just never did much for me. I like the first and third acts quite a bit but just find the middle to be a bit lagging even for a movie of such short length. Frankenstein still reigns supreme for me as my favorite of the Universal monster movies. 3/5

The Mummy (1932, 73mins)
Total Points: 4 (ancient tomb + forcibly entombed/buried alive)
I always found The Mummy to be kind of interesting in that I don't really think of it as a movie about a mummy. Sure, there's a mummy that returns to life but besides the opening scene Karloff isn't really in that great mummy makeup from the opening. Regardless, I still find plenty to enjoy in the film and falls right into the middle of the pack for me when ranking the Universal monster movies that I have seen. 3.5/5

R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015, 83mins)
Total Points: 2
I have a five year old daughter who is kind of interested in horror but understandably weary as well and so it's always fun to find content that she's comfortable with. Since she has seen every episode of Goosebumps and some of The Haunting Hour anything that pops up on Netflix with his name is kind of a go to. This tv movie is about a carnival that shows up in a small town around Halloween offering a realistic walk through haunted house attraction. What no one knows is that the guy running the attraction is many years old and has been using it as a way to capture young people and feed off of their life essence. A bit like Something Wicked This Way Comes for the modern Disney crowd. 2/5

The Monster Squad (1987, 82mins)
Total Points 5 (antagonist attacks under darkness [dracula & wolfman] + monster in the closet ["mummy came in my house"] + hidden room or dropped into pit [when Sean pulls the lever on the wall a trap door opens up and drops the boys down to the basement]
There's really not much I can say about this one that I haven't said before. I'm pretty sure I watched this for the last madness and I'm sure I will watch it again next October and probably before that. I love it. It's one of my favorite childhood movies and one of the many films that turned me into the genre fan I am today. 5/5

Goosebumps (1995-1998 30mins) I watched 9 Episodes so rather than list the date and runtime for each I figured I would save some typing and simply list them all below. My general thoughts on the series are that it's entertaining and I'm glad I can watch it with my daughter but I have no nostalgic tie to the show as I never watched it as a kid. I was 12 when it started so I think I was past the age of interest. I had already stopped reading the books at that point and had certainly moved onto much more adult oriented horror so an anthology program aimed at younger kids wouldn't have really been of interest to me. I have also rated these based on their comparison to each other. A 3/5 for a Goosebumps episode could be much less outside of the series.

 - Night of the Living Dummy II: Total Points, .5 - It seems that a lot of people really love these Slappy episodes but I don't really get it. I don't think Slappy is all that scary honestly and I've seen other episodes of the series that are much more effective and creepy. I'm guessing a lot of viewers saw this when they were kids and one thing that can pretty effectively scare a young child is a psychotic doll. 1.5/5

- Be Careful What you Wish For: Total Points, .5 - A girl is given wishes by an old woman but with each wish comes a negative consequence. Again, it's just not scary and I don't see how it ever was. 1/5

- Teachers Pet: Total Points 1 (bats fly out and scare characters) - While on a camping excursion two kids realize that some of the woodland creatures may not be so friendly anymore. I enjoyed it more than the other two, so I guess 2/5?

- Deep Trouble Parts 1 & 2: 1 point total for both - A surprisingly fun take on the Dr Moreau story with two kids realizing their uncle has been experimenting on human subjects creating hybrids of animals and humans. I found this one to be pretty enjoyable. There is some fun b-movie-esque makeup and I always enjoy a good Dr Moreau ripoff. 3/5

- Bride of the Living Dummy: .5 Total Points - Slappy is back and he's got a love interest. Again, I don't get the whole slappy thing but the demise of the two dummies was amusing. 2/5

- Haunted House Game: .5 Total Points - Two kids (it's almost always two kids, a boy and a girl) become trapped in an old house after they are transported into a board game they find inside. They are forced to play a real life version of the game if they ever hope to escape. I kind of enjoyed this episode. There were some good makeup effects and I liked the look of the various rooms in the house. 2.5/5

- Night of the Living Dummy III Part 2: .5 Total Points - These really aren't worth the .5 points. If it weren't for my child I wouldn't waste my time. Once again Slappy is back because apparently the first few times weren't enough. 1.5/5

- Welcome to Dead House Parts 1 & 2: 3.5 Total Points (.5 Base Points for Part 1 = .5 base points for part 2 + creatures destroyed by sun ATB) - I don't know if it's because I was pleasantly surprised with the ATB or if it's because this one was actually decent but I enjoyed this episode. A family moves to a town only to discover that the townsfolk have lured them there in hopes of feeding on them. The entire episode culminates into a zombie movie with the creatures breaking into the house as the family desperately tries to keep them out and flee the town. There was some genuinely creepy moments as well as some amusing comedy. This two parter has certainly given me faith that I can find more episodes that I actually enjoy. 3.5/5

Gremlins (1984, 106 mins)
Total Points: 6 (ATB creature destroyed by sunlight)
Similar to Monster Squad in its importance to me as a genre fan. Gremlins is one of the earlier film watching experiences I have at around the age of 4 and I obsessively watched it for years. Dante does what he's always done really well, blends humor and horror together to make for a really unique and entertaining film. I usually watch this one in winter but I couldn't resist the ATB. 5/5

Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988, 97mins)
Total Points:6 (Characters willingly enters hellmouth)
There's a lot to like about Hellraiser 2. I've always really liked the movie from the point the characters enter hell. I think a lot of the stuff before that moment is a bit too much of a rehash of the first one with Julia's return being pretty similar to what we had with Frank. 3.5/5

Monster in the Closet(1987, 90mins)
Total Points: 3 (monster in closet)
I watched this one really hoping that someone was going to go after the titular monster in the closet. Unfortunately they don't and so I sat through this one only to receive one point. While there are some funny moments sprinkled throughout the movie is overall pretty dull. 1/5

House on Haunted Hill (1959, 75mins)
Total Points: 2
The best thing this movie has going for it is Vincent Price. If he weren't in the film I don't know that anyone would look on as fondly as they do. I actually think I liked it less on this viewing than I did the last time I watched it. I really want to like it more than I do. 2/5

Fright Night (1985, 106mins)
Total Points: 6 (creature destroyed by sun)
One of my favorite vampire movies. Roddy McDowell, Chris Sarandon and Stephen Geoffreys are all so entertaining and I've always loved the blend of rear window and vampires. 5/5

Nosferatu (1929, 94mins)
Total Points: 6 (creature destroyed by sun)
Nosferatu is so much better than Dracula. It's still effectively creepy today which is a huge feat for a movie this old.

The Beyond (1983, 87mins)
Total Points: 6 (characters enter hellmouth ATB)
The Beyond is possibly my favorite Fulci film though I really love City of the Living Dead and Zombie. The locations are great, the effects are grisly and the score is outstanding. It's one I revisit often. 5/5

Near Dark (1987, 94mins)
Total Points: 6 (creatures destroyed by sun)
Near Dark, a modern take on a vampire film mixed with elements of a classic western and featuring an amazing cast. It's even got Tangerine Dream handling the score. What's not to love? 5/5

The Strangeness (1985, 90mins)
Total Points:6 (finale in cave)
I put this one on based solely on the description. A group of miners head down into an old mine with hopes of finding gold but instead become trapped inside with a giant stop motion monster that devours them one by one. A surprisingly fun low budget movie with special effects ranging from pretty good to laughably silly. 2.5/5

Girl vs Monster (2012, 89mins)
Total Points: 4 (Hidden passage, monster under bed)
Girl vs Monster is another movie produce by Disney for television. It's a ripoff of Ghostbusters where a girl finds out her parents are monster hunters after she accidentally lets them all out of a containment unit in the basement. Nothing really special here, I dislike how Disney feels the need to force multiple moments into their movies in the obvious hopes of creating another Disney music star. Really nothing special. 1.5/5

Elvira's Movie Macabre: Beast from Haunted Cave
Total Points: 4 (elvira bonus, cave)
A giant spider thing chases some thieves around some snowy mountains while Elvira attempts to run her show after firing most of her staff. I've been a fan of Elvira since I was a child so this Elvira bonus is right up my alley. Definitely looking forward to watching many more during this madness. Just hoping I can find some ATB's in there.

Tales from the Crypt (1989, 30mins) I watched several Tales from the Crypt episodes so far so as I did with Goosebumps I'll just list them out below. Unlike Goosebumps, I grew up watching Tales from the Crypt and it was one of my earlier exposures to horror. While not every episode is great there are more good ones than bad ones with some being absolutely perfect.
- Surprise Party, Total Points 1 (secret passage [opening credits]}) - a man inherits a house from his father that is inhabited with some angry spirits. A typical entry in the series but it's always fun to see Jake Busey pop up in something. 2/5
- Comes the Dawn, Total Points 2 (secret passage in credits, extended period of darkness, attack at night): Two men travel to Alaska to hunt grizzly bears but end up facing off against a horde of vampires during the two months of Alaskan darkness. Hadn't seen this one before but I enjoyed it. 3/5
- Dig that Cat He's Real Gone, Total Points 1.5 (secret passage, buried alive) - A homeless man is given nine lives when a doctor implants a gland from a cats brain into his own. The twist is so great in this one, especially as the main characters come to the realization that he has made an awful error in his math.
- Staired in Horror, Total Points 1 (secret passage) - A man on the run hides out in the house of an old woman who has a very strange curse. There are some interesting ideas in this one but nothing I would return to anytime soon. 2/5
- People who live in Brass Hearses, Total Points 1 (secret passage) - Two brothers devise a plan to rob a warehouse but things go south quickly when one of them screws up the plan. I honestly did not see the twist coming in this. I think the episode itself is a bit disjointed but there's some really funny moments and it stars Bill Paxton and Brad Dourif which is a plus. 2.5/5
- House of Horror, Total Points 1 (secret passage) - I remember this episode from when I was younger. Wil Wheaton, Jason London and Keith Coogan are terrorized by pledge master Kevin Dillon. For a final challenge they must enter a haunted house but most of them don't leave alive. While you'll see the twist coming pretty early it's always satisfying to see an asshole get what's coming to him. 3.5/5

Total Points for Week One: 88.5